Canada East 5, Canada West 2 – Rath Eastlink Community Centre· Dylan Edwards (Toronto, ON/Toronto, OJHL) scored twice and added an assist as Canada East moved to 2-0.· Trevor Hoskin (Belleville, ON/Cobourg, OJHL), Taeo Artichuk (Ajax, ON/Trenton, OJHL) each had a goal and an assist and Jack Rimmer (Toronto, ON/Collingwood, OJHL) tallied once.· Dylan Compton (Victoria, BC/Brooks, AJHL) and Ryan Zaremba (Edmonton, AB/Sherwood Park, AJHL) scored for Canada West.· Dawson Labre (Les Cèdres, QC / Smiths Falls, CCHL) made 33 saves in the win.Photo credit: Erica Perreaux / Hockey Canada ImagesUnited States 6, Slovakia 1 – Rath Eastlink Community Centre· James Reeder scored a hat-trick as the United States earned its first victory of the tournament.· Mac Swanson had three assists.· Adam Beluško replied for Slovakia.· Hampton Slukynsky stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced for the victory.Next games – December 12 Sweden vs. United States – 7:30 p.m. ATQuotes:“I thought we came out and played well in the first. As the game went on, I felt like we got away from our game plan a bit. When we’re skating, working, and competing, the skill we have really shows and I think that is when we are at our best. We have to do a better job managing the puck at times, but overall, I like the effort.” United States head coach Matt Smaby on the victory“It’s a great way to start the tournament. I think the boys were ready to go, came out firing and got on top of them early. The hard part is stringing these types of wins together, and for now it is all about being ready to go tomorrow vs Sweden.” Reeder on getting the first one out of the way“We’re really happy with the progression. From the exhibition game, to game one, to tonight, we feel that we’re starting to get there. We know there are still things we can do to be better, but our guys are buying in, and you could see that tonight.” Canada East head coach Billy McGuigan (Summerside, PE/Summerside, MHL) on the improvement from day one“We came in the first day and everyone looked a little nervous, and a little shakey but now we’re starting to gel. I thought tonight guys were passing pucks hard, driving to the net and making it hard on them. You could feel the rivalry of east vs west for sure, the benches were chirping and yelling but I think we handled that well and got the better of them.” Edwards on the victoryTSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada will broadcast the bronze and gold medal games from the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro; please check local listings for details.All preliminary-round games are livestreamed at HockeyCanada.ca.
Team Canada West falls to 0-2 at WJAC
